"&#8212; a repackaging of his previous budget, which got precisely zero votes in Congress &#8212; was a calculated insult. Obama proposed spending reductions of $60 billion a year &#8212; about 1.6 percent of a $3.8 trillion budget. He asked Congress to cede its control over the debt limit. And then he undertook a clumsy campaign swing, accusing Republicans of offering a &#8220;lump of coal&#8221; and a &#8220;Scrooge Christmas.&#8221; It was a policy joke, wrapped in a taunt, delivered with a puerile touch.
Obama supporters nodded approvingly, saying that he is finished &#8220;negotiating with himself.&#8221; But right now, he doesn&#8217;t seem to be negotiating with anyone. "

The second overreach is Reid's insane bid to change the filibuster rules:

"GOP senators already feel picked upon by Reid&#8217;s practice of &#8220;filling the amendment tree,&#8221; making it impossible for them to introduce amendments to legislation. If Reid kicks off the new session in January by limiting the historical privileges of the minority &#8212; because the minority currently happens to be Republican &#8212; it will provoke a furious revolt. To get his rule change on filibusters, Reid would need to demonstrate that any Senate rule could be changed by a simple majority. This would make the Senate a smaller, more pompous version of the House, where the majority rewrites the rules every two years, and the minority consequently counts for little.
At least in the short term, Reid would achieve little more than the humiliation of Republicans. An empowered Senate Democratic majority could pass 1,000 bills that would still languish in the Republican House. But Reid would succeed in provoking a constitutional crisis in the middle of a complex, continuing budget negotiation. "

"
President Obama, prone to overestimate his own capacity at communication, is now on the verge of serious overreach in two areas:
First, his opening budget bid  a repackaging of his previous budget, which got precisely zero votes in Congress  was a calculated insult. Obama proposed spending reductions of $60 billion a year  about 1.6 percent of a $3.8 trillion budget. He asked Congress to cede its control over the debt limit. And then he undertook a clumsy campaign swing, accusing Republicans of offering a lump of coal and a Scrooge Christmas. It was a policy joke, wrapped in a taunt, delivered with a puerile touch.
Obama supporters nodded approvingly, saying that he is finished negotiating with himself. But right now, he doesnt seem to be negotiating with anyone. "

Over reach? Most would call it an opening bid. We now have a counter-offer from the Republicans. At least they're talking. I wouldn't pay much attention to pundits that treat each proposal as if its a final offer, until we actually have one.

The second overreach is Reid's insane bid to change the filibuster rules:

"GOP senators already feel picked upon by Reids practice of filling the amendment tree, making it impossible for them to introduce amendments to legislation. If Reid kicks off the new session in January by limiting the historical privileges of the minority  because the minority currently happens to be Republican  it will provoke a furious revolt. To get his rule change on filibusters, Reid would need to demonstrate that any Senate rule could be changed by a simple majority. This would make the Senate a smaller, more pompous version of the House, where the majority rewrites the rules every two years, and the minority consequently counts for little.
At least in the short term, Reid would achieve little more than the humiliation of Republicans. An empowered Senate Democratic majority could pass 1,000 bills that would still languish in the Republican House. But Reid would succeed in provoking a constitutional crisis in the middle of a complex, continuing budget negotiation. "

&#8220;The responsible action for all of us &#8211; in industry and in government &#8211; is to face the need for reductions, and to get on with it in a manner that protects national security,&#8221; he said. &#8220;&#8230;And yes, spending cuts will more than likely include defense spending cuts.&#8221;

What the wingnuts are really afraid of is that the President will succeed in getting a budget that both raises revenue and decreases expenditures. And that there will be something done in the Senate that prevents the blind obstructionism that we have seen in the past four years.

Should the President succeed in both these tasks, he will be off to a roaring start for his second term. And the wingnuts will be beside themselves with fury.

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